Savior in Time
by paynesgrey
Summary: Noah Jr. vows to save all the Elle Bishops of every fractured time line. Season 3 and 4 AU after "Eclipse". Sylar/Elle implied. Sequel possible.


AN: Written for a prompt at the Sylar/Elle ficfest on Livejournal. Rated PG. Season 3 & 4 AU. A sequel could be very possible.

Savior in Time

Noah Gray Jr. squinted and felt the grit of sand in his teeth. He exhaled deeply and looked ahead at two figures on the beach, covered by a dark night sky without a moon.

This was the place. This was the exact time.

His pace turned into a run when he heard the scream. He lifted his gun – aimed – and the first wave of lightning blasts hit the bastard in the shoulder and chest as he fell backwards. Noah smirked in satisfaction. He'd have to thank Ando and Mohinder for creating such a gun once he got back home.

He stopped in front of the frightened woman, and he looked upon her shocked face and into her blue eyes with softness. He extended his hand to her, and she hesitated, not sure of what just happened.

"Elle Bishop, are you alright?" She nodded once, still cautious of his help. It was always like this, in every timeline. Elle Bishop, his own mother, did not know the consequences of his rescue. In many timelines, she wasn't even alive – which meant, that he wasn't born, and the world turned into chaos where he wasn't there to save it. His partner Ando could only do so much, plus, his heart wasn't always strong enough to resist temptation of his powers.

But Noah knew better. He knew how easily it was to be blinded by power and to use such powers for nefarious means.

He heard a loud groan in front of him. His father – the most evil version of this time – was starting to regenerate.

"Hurry! He'll kill you!" he screamed at his mother. She immediately took his hand, and when Sylar came to his feet, he stared the bastard in the eyes. Elle shivered against him, hugging tightly to this stranger rather than braving the fate that lie within Sylar's bloody hands.

"Who are you?" Sylar asked vehemently. Noah looked upon him with pity, and he lifted up the gun and pointed it at him. He felt tightness in his heart, and he felt Elle watching him, intrigued and awed.

"I'm your son," he said, and he heard Elle gasp as they blinked out of existence. He could only imagine what expression his father had before he and This Elle Bishop blinked ahead in time. He only hoped he would give the man something to think about it. In fact, he counted on it. If the fiend didn't change his heart – just a little – in the next approximate five months, he still didn't have a chance to be born in this time.

Letting thoughts fall aside, Noah concentrated and brought them ahead in this main timeline. As he suspected, saving Elle did not have much impact on this reality, and he was just grateful he had saved another. The more timelines he saved the better chances these worlds had to surviving in an exposed future. The more Noah Grays that existed, the more chances the timeline did not break off into a shadowy chaos under the sadistic rule of Pinehurst.

Yet, more than anything, it wasn't just the world that rested on his shoulders; it was his mother's life. He would go to a million timelines, just to rescue her from the cruel fate that his father had given her.

They reappeared in time in another arid area. The dead grass and clay dirt crunched under their feet, and Elle Bishop jumped away from him and scrutinized him as he watched her back.

"You're…you're Sylar's son? Why would you save me?" She whipped her head around.

"I am your son too," he said, his tone softening. "I needed to save you so I would be born in this time." He sighed. "Timelines are messed up. Hiro Nakamura was the first to create problems, and then Peter Petrelli. Other time travelers have made tears and rips. Now the fabric of space and time is becoming more fragile. There are many futures that have horrible ends."

Elle scoffed. "So saving me saves the future."

"No," Noah said gruffly. He sniffed and hardened his gaze. "Saving you saves _my_ future, so that I may be of help to people in other times who do not want to see their worlds collapse from many enemies, many who are one enemy by himself: Sylar.

"There are not many time travelers left. Many of the Hiros are dead from brain tumors, and many of the Peters cannot travel anymore thanks to Pinehurst. The main time line is in chaos enough." He paused for a second and noted her confusion. "I am one of the last with time abilities. But in many timelines, I do not exist. When Sylar kills you on the beach, I am not born."

"But how…how can you be born now?" she asked.

"In another time I was born. Gabriel Gray was a changed man, and he was a brother to Peter Petrelli. Claire Bennet and Knox from Pinehurst tried to kill me, and my father lost control of his powers and almost fried me too. In a reactionary move, I blinked into time to save myself. I was very young then, and scared. When I came to, I was in the only place I knew. I went to Uncle Ando's house, where he took me into his home and raised me until I was old enough to seek out others like myself. Then, I started having problems, as did the rest of the world. Someone had changed the past – Peter Petrelli I presumed, so the timeline broke off. Do you know what happens to the world when it breaks off from a main timeline?"

Elle shook her head.

Noah's voice was grave. "It is a world of imaginable chaos. Nothing makes sense anymore. People who were once alive but died in another timeline become weak, a shadow of themselves. I barely escaped the affliction myself. I came back in time and sought out my father. I found him locked up at the Company, and I've followed him around every since. When he met you, I made sure to watch closely to see how I would someday die. I've tried many times to save you from the beach. Sometimes my father overpowers me."

Elle watched him with her wide blue eyes, and he felt a pang of love overcome him. "In my timeline, Elle Bishop dies from Pinehurst, not from Sylar. I am so happy that you are alive, Mom."

Elle sighed heavily, and she hugged herself and shook her head. "This is insane. This is too much. Why should I even believe you?" she snarled at him.

"You don't have to. You can just be glad that I saved your life," he sneered at her. "Also, you should be glad a son of yours did not take his parents' path."

"What do you mean be that?" she snapped at him.

"Sylar tries to kill you and you have a second chance," Noah said, stepping close to her. He leaned in close, looming over her with an intimidating air. "You don't want to rethink your life now? Maybe you can reconsider hurting people for pleasure, _Mother_."

"But what about Gabriel? You said he needs to change for you to be born," she said with disbelief. "How are you going to even manage that, genius?"

"First thing's first," Noah said, looking around the arid field and digging into his pockets. "I need to find Joseph."

"Who is Joseph?" Elle said with exasperation. Noah wondered if his mother could take much more of his mystery. Soon, all would be revealed to her.

He pulled a compass out of his thick jacket pocket, and he beckoned her to follow him in the direction it pointed.

"Come on, Mom," Noah said with a smirk. "We're going to the carnival."

Elle stood hesitant, and Noah turned around and tilted his head. "Unless you want me to take you back to Sylar." He saw the fear in Elle's eyes, but her expression was fierce and annoyed.

Noah Jr. only smiled at her warmly. "I have a proposition for you, Mom." He turned and started walking again. "If you seek redemption for your ways, you can start by saving a life. _My_ life."

Elle frowned at him. She knew he was right. He walked ahead, and she ran up to follow him. Noah knew that she would. She had no where else to go. But he would give her a new family – a place where she can change her ways without sacrificing herself.

Noah knew Joseph would welcome her, and when an amnesiac Gabriel Gray turned up at this traveling Carnival, he would have no choice but to reintroduce them again.

Then, in this time, Noah Jr. would be saved.

END


End file.
